Small SoLa Facts

Perhaps you know some of our facts, perhaps you don't know, I don't care...or maybe I do for even publishing a blog about it? Guess I do!

COOKIE:
The official state cookie of Louisiana? Well as of recently it became the well known tea cakes. I am a huge tea cake fan. My brother-in-law just became a huge tea cake fan. People who eat them for the first time become tea cake fans. They're just that yummy and simple as well. I myself make tea cakes with a memorized recipe inspired by a woman very close to us who's lived through so many of America's great changes, and still is alive today. The thing about tea cakes, flavor wise they're light, with a fresh vanilla taste to them. Majority of the times I would crack and chop up fresh pecans from local trees and use them in the dough. These are so authentic here you can't buy them in stores, unless a true Louisianian makes them. Someday I will get myself a little stamp with the shape of Louisiana as the mark and stamp them across the cookie. If all goes well maybe even the name Louisiana across the square ones. All in all, you must try them somehow someday.
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METROPOLIS:
Louisiana has some pretty big cities, even far outside I-10. North Louisiana has Shreveport, Monroe. SoLa has Baton Rouge as the state's capitol, and New Orleans as being a major business center, historical amongst the world, culturally diverse, and our largest city. This city was once nothing more but a swamp a few blocks from the river until workers pumped away the water, causing the land to dry up and sink below sea level in the process which set the stage for the country's most costliest disaster in history, flood of Katrina.




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DONUT:
How the hell can you tell me you visited NoLa and didn't have any beignets? You must be traveling with the uptight or just didn't have a damn clue. The official state donut, yesh...you've named it. It's beignets. They're a definite must in Louisiana. Stop by the locally owned Cafe du Monde on Decatur St. in NoLa's French Quarter and just enjoy the live sounds that exist there, the decadent aromas there, and life and beignets (served with homemade hot cocoa) in the Great City of New Orleans!

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BRIDGE:
Want another route out of NoLa? Well how about taking a route that's record breaking on its own. The City of New Orleans holds itself for doing things big, especially Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday). But one notable thing about NoLa, is that it holds the current record for the longest bridge over open water....in the world. Lake Pontchartrain Causeway twin span bridges both spanning around 24 miles long over nothing but water, it's no wonder seeing land on the otherside proves silly. The northern terminus is located in Mandeville, along with a nice beach along Lake Pontchartrain with its southern terminus being in Metairie, a suburb of New Orleans. This is the same lake that flooded the city. Certain weather conditions can make this trip an unforgettable one, such as crossing the lake under a full moon, setting sun, ultra dense fog, thunderstorms right in the middle of the bridge...etc...you know...
***When viewing this video make sure you low the volume down...I wasn't using my iphone to film this but a simple camera. I know it's a bit blurry.***




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CAPITOL:
So you probably know that Louisiana's capital is Baton Rouge yes? Well did you know it holds its records as well for having the tallest state capitol in the US of A? It's one of the most scenic things about Baton Rouge, next to the Horace Wilkinson Bridge it looms above the trees like a giant lighthouse you can see before even reaching the city of Baton Rouge. The architecture is unlike anything one has ever seen in Louisiana for a building this old. Decorated with emblems of the state bird, the brown pelican, to famous governors, to the front entrance steps each of which represent each of the 50 states as they became official. And tours are absolutely free, so ride an elevator to the top and see what you see!


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Louisiana Heat

One thing I love about living in SoLa was riding through its southern most points to where not a tree will grow...roads are limited...you could easily see for miles, any growing thunderstorm, anything. You could go at the right time of day, roll the windows down one hour and have warm wind rushing in to bathe the interior with warmth......turbulent sounds that are always louder than the Indie you're blasting already. Our summers are hot, you can ask anybody that and get the same pandemic question. Some days, the humidity is harsh enough to make you feel like you should be swimming to your destinations. It's even more interesting on days where not a gust....a breeze nor a zephyr isn't even thought of by mother nature. Supposedly our climate is humid-subtropical with moderate to severe summer rain-spells or seasons. Summers here can reach as cool as 70 and as hot as 100 with heat indexes from the suffocating humidity to 115-120 on some days...Brutal yes?!
Last summer, the dreadful summer of 2009...I decided to tackle on a summer job, as a technician in my dad's small at-home type of business helping clients with landscaping, etc. Downtown Abbeville is where we spent the majority of it, applying a thick double coating of water-seal that was more like syrupy paint from before sunrise-sunset with a cool-off break....and every morning we would wake up early to beat the sun, doing as much as we could on whatever tasks the clients needed service with. Cruising through Abbeville at that time of morning....with the air still cool from the lows of the lower 70's, I was always still sleepy, never ready to leave the truck. About an hour in the sun would rise...and so would the temperature by the minutes. I always tied a white t-shirt around my head to protect myself from inconvenient flows of sweat into my eyes and to block the sun of course. My little brother became dizzy several times as a result of not wearing anything on his head that month. It was like this...every single day in June....but July, the days after my birthday, is when it would rain and rain every day for a few hours and clear up. Turns out for the whole month of June, a high pressure system sat over Louisiana, kept the skies clear of clouds and hopes of rain, for the whole hot month of June. Those cool off breaks, the majority of outdoor workers would seek shelter from the sun since we live in the sunbelt region of the SoLa. I have to say though, July truly saved me. We never went back there to see if more work was needed, which I'm sure there was...I was just tired of having to be this exhausted. It was like summer returned to normal for what we're use to during summer months. The days would start off mostly clear, warm, humid, but breezy and as clouds develop, some disappeared, but some don't. They become cells, wall clouds, hail cores from that one little morning survival cloud. And if you're a cloud watching person, time-lapsing the growth of a cloud into a city sized cloud is amazing. The cells and showers also relieve the south from the heat, giving name to our climate...humid-subtropical as well as visited by the occasional hurricanes.

This is just a few hours outside my bedroom window from morning to noonish

iTen Louisiana (About this blog)

GOAL:
I-10 spanning at 2460 miles long across one seaboard to the other, why not highlight the 279 miles worth of the interstate here in south Louisiana (SoLa) and places, people, life, differences (better word that just flat out 'issues'), and just the world that SoLa has to offer all things geographical (and edible). This will include not just around the I-10 corridor.

iTen:
Likewise, spanning 279 miles long in SoLa from major cities including Lake Charles all the way to New Orleans and then Slidell, the last pieces of Louisiana, or the first depending on where you're entering the state from. Enter a new world in SoLa that's been influenced by life here since Pre-America.

MAJOR LOCATION:
A] Lake Charles (West)
B] Lafayette (Central)
C] Morgan City (South Central)
D] Houma (South East)
E] Baton Rouge (South East)
F] New Orleans (South East)
G] Slidell (South East)

LOCATION:
Sulphur
Rockefellar State Wildlife Refuge and Game Preserve
Lake Arthur
Maurice
ROADTRIP - Highway 82/Creole Nature Trail (includes Perry, wetlands, Cajun Riviera)
Abbeville
Avery Island
Atchafalaya Region
ROADTRIP - Highway 1/ Port Fourchon, Grand Isle
ROADTRIP - Pontchartrain/ Fontainbleau State Park, Northshore, Rigoletts, New Orleans shoreline, Manchac
ROADTRIP - Mississippi River SoLa/ all along highway 23 communities all the way to Venice, La as well as Delacroix Highway and
Hopedale Highway.
FINAL - Chandeleur Island/ SoLa crescent jewel on the map.

The regions listed may be subject to deviations. Places not listed above will most likely be visited and documented, as well as a vice verse circumstance.

Top Worst Roads in Louisiana (my pick)

After that countdown surveyed from the roads throughout the nation, and Louisiana was worst of them all as far as roads go, I've decided to throw in specifics to which roads I deem horrible as far as smoothness go and pothole contents.

Canal Street, New Orleans

It's a pretty nice road in this area of the city facing the World Trade Center, but head north toward Lake Pontchartrain in the residential area and you're in for one hell of a bump and an ump! This was the first road that's ever made me hit my head on the ceiling of a car due to an unavoidable pothole. This road is littered with potholes. When driving here don't pay attention to the pretty houses and their Katrina waterline, nor the ancient iconic oak trees.........

Morganza Spillway, Highway 190

When major incidents occur near I-10 that involves the wilderness around the Atchafalaya Basin area, you can expect to take a major detour on highway 190, and once you do, you're in for the Morganza Spillway. This structure is one of many structures throughout Louisiana used to control the flooding of the Mississippi River. In other words, if it floods, they drain part of it through the spillway into the Atchafalaya Basin. The bridge that goes over this spillway has a bit of a rhythmic, yet concussive pattern that can wake even the heaviest of sleepers. If you have an old car that rattles already with loose parts, its ill advised going on this thing, being your car just might fall apart.

Between Lafayette and Atchafalaya Bridge

The Atchafalaya bridge is relatively smooth. If you tried to sense the patterns in it you probably could. But its only once you get off of it heading to Lafayette (or from) do you truly feel the road. The road isn't necessarily something to endure until you're getting on or off a few overpasses on this part. Its relatively rhythmic enough though to dose you with sleepiness.

Vermilion Parkway South of Maurice

Heading towards my hometown Abbeville, is the infamous Highway 167, also known as (recently even) Vermilion Parkway. The road from that last light out of Maurice to the smooth black pavement into Abbeville is just ridiculous. You can't even hear your radio but you can sureeee hear the explosive sound affects of the road, that's for sure. Although you can go as fast as the interstate on this road you might not want to. Its only rough southbound but northbound its relatively (ironically) smooth!

Southern Voice

"Louisiana...a place where its lands stood still and kept its prehistoric scenes"

When visiting Louisiana, or the south even, you'll find that the majority of the people have an accent, or a different 'local' vocab that's somewhat spoken across the region. Some people even have a hard time understanding what some of us are saying, especially when they're from a more northern area or far west. In my opinion I find our way of speaking to be just a lazier way of speaking English. Words are somewhat shortened, and changed to where they are easiest to say and roll straight off the tongue. I'll list a few classics of this and commonly spoken phrases...

English : Louisianian/Southern

Children : Churren/chillin
Them : dem
There : deh
That : dat (who dat!)
Going : goin'/gawn (n slightly silenced)
Have : ha (short a sound like hat)
And/In : n (pronounced like the letter n)
The : da (like duh)
With : wit/wi (short i sound)
Don't : don/dun
You all : yawl/y'all
So starting to put some of this together and it should sound like zis based on pronunciation...
Ha da hell dem churren gawn ha dat'n dey room?
Also, just about everybody in the area takes out 'them or dem' when its right after a word and replaces it with 'em.
For example: We have'em! We need'em. Get'em outa here!

Now just to add this in there, some people might cuss funny, especially when they're really pissed. My mom often said this, and I always wanted to laugh but.....well yeah that wouldn't have worked very well: Well i be goddamned! When they are seriously seriously pissed, they'll either say it fast and act right after or while saying it, orrrr they'll enunciate that last word wit a pause, which is when you know you're about to get it. So if they say it like this, well i be go.......damned!!!!...expect that last word to be loud, and their actions louder.......

Dese are some people from Grosse Tete right off da I-10 na follow along


And that's Looooosiana for ya :]
so welcome to the very south!

Within a Century

1856...
"I remember it was cool that morning. The water was rough even on the boat ride to the island that day before. The wind that morning had gotten so strong though the sand started stingin'. I didn't stay at the beach long after nor did my folks stay at the casino. Went back to the house with mah and pah and the kin, and we didn't go outside after that. Nobody bothered stepping out for a smoke break because of the wind. It started to howl, and then scream...I'd never been so terrified in my life. The windows rattled, the house literally shook. It sounded like a huge demonic creature was trying to charge through. I thought I could hear voices in the wind, but the wind screamed even louder with the pain and destruction it brought. Water was coming from beneath the house through the floor, and there was a different sound like there was clawing at the walls. I started crying, but my mah beat me to it. Pah took us to the bathroom, lit a candle...and together we sat in the tub ducked down praying. My ears felt funny, and my throat ached from cry-voice. I could hear the wind ripping our home apart, and it was so loud there were sounds some I couldn't even identify. I heard the windows explode and wind breaking in. Felt like the house made a big move 'cause the tub slid. Water was almost up to the top rim of the tub, felt like I couldn't breathe after that. The roof fell in and tilted over us, and the walls split apart and crumbled. I didn't have to look to see outside it was everywhere after that. Part of the roof looked like it was being dragged by the wind, and so did the walls. We knew soon there'd be nothing left. I think pah hugged and told mah goodbye........."

1856 Last Island (Isle Dernière), Louisiana
2010 Raccoon Point, Raccoon, Whiskey, Trinity, East, and Vine (a.k.a. Wine) Island, Louisiana

Last Island was an island around 25 miles long, 1 mile wide, and considered a pleasure resort of the time. It was almost like the Galveston or Mobile of Louisiana. Nice beaches, casinos, a village of houses. People vacationed there and considered a safe haven from yellow fever that spread throughout New Orleans. But August 11, 1856, a hurricane so powerful hit the island, no building or tree taller than 2 feet stayed standing. Over 200 peopled died, and the few survivors dealt with being stranded and looters. The bays that separated the land from the isle looked like a gulf afterward, and the land was forever changed, splitting the island into 6 islands (listed above). The land was forever changed that day, and happened fast. Today the islands are small, and barely as visible as it once were; all happened within one century, which can happen again. Today people go from Cocodrie to the isles for fishing mostly...Stories of survivors still exist as a novel and is now available in stores!